From Ashes
by Amethystanarchist100
Summary: Alistair is a gentleman inventor with a quick wit and a screw loose, and his intent is to rise himself to the position of huntsman by way of the prestigious Beacon Academy. Follow his adventures as he struggles with many hidden dangers and trials, among which is a certain mischevious pair. "Damn it Yang! Unhand me!"
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is the first fanfiction I'll be posting online, so I hope it goes over well with my various readers. Please note that I'll be posting the first chapter along with this one, so don't expect any responses to comments or questions until chapter 2.**

**This isn't the first story I ever made, but it's the first one I'll be posting online because it's the second furthest along, and I need to edit my other work drastically before it's in any fit state to share. After the prologue, I'll have a rather long author's note to tell you what you can expect from this particular fanfic, but for now, I'd like to say that this page will make it seem a bit more… serious than the rest of the story. This prologue isn't setting tone of the story, just introducing it and the character.**

**Now that I'm done ranting, I'll let you enjoy (hopefully) my first post; the prologue to "From Ashes"!**

"Speech"

'_Thought/Reading'_

"Synthesized/Robotic Speech"

*Onomatopoeia* (sound effect)

**(Author's Note)**

**Xxxxxx Scene Change xxxxxx**

**xxxxxx **Scene Break

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, Roosterteeth, or any work referenced in this fanfiction. RWBY is the machination of Monty Oum and Roosterteeth.**

**Now that that's done… Let the story BEGIN**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

_"…For Dust thou art, and to Dust shalt thou return…"_

_Genesis 3:19 (King James Version)_

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Black smoke rose high into the night sky, joining the clouds which had been stained red and orange by the great pyre burning below. Ash mixed with snow on the wind, staining the white frost a light grey as it fell to the ground gently, held aloft by the warm updraft and allowed to settle further away, painting the world a stone grey.

Grey… just like his eyes. Those orbs stared emptily up into the sky and watched the falling ash as it alighted upon him in the forest clearing and coated both his surroundings and his own body in a thin layer of the soft flakes, protecting him from the biting wind. He couldn't see much of the world around him because the snowstorm hanging overhead blotting out the moon and stars, but the barest of lights filtered into the clearing from the inferno flickering in the distance. Not that he cared much to look around. He was paying no attention to anyone or anything around him; instead he simply lay there, clutching a leather book bag to his chest as he stared into the dark sky with a hollow gaze that bespoke no emotion, positive or negative. It was as though he was unconscious, yet still awake.

If he'd taken the time to look around himself, the boy would have seen several sparks off in the distance that didn't flicker or die; burning red points of light that seemed to be imbedded in moving masses of the blackest shadow that swallowed what little light could be seen amongst the dying foliage. But either he didn't see them or didn't react, because he simply lay there, his young face and torn clothes being coated in the falling residue that left the world around him bleak and colorless with the only sign of life in him being the occasional blink of his eyes. As he lay there, a few of the dark shapes in the woods turned their gaze in his general direction and for some reason began to flock towards him, seemingly attracted to him like moths to a flame. Eventually they reached the edge of the clearing, showing the barest of their silhouettes to the world, as highlighted by the dim glow of the distant fires that licked the sky, revealing them to be bestial in nature. Yet something about them seemed… off.

It might have been the red eyes, or the unusual size of some of the beasts, but something made them appear strange; almost unnatural in a way. They looked less like a menagerie of animals and more like a demonic horde, whose solid red eyes shone with a constant, insatiable hunger and were always searching, always watching for prey.

Those bloodthirsty eyes swept the forest floor as they approached the clearing, only to pause at the very edge, their heads moving around and their noses flaring while they sniffed the air as though tracking something; him most likely. Yet still he lay there, unmoving, uncaring, even as one of the beasts slowly stalked forward out from the cover of the woods and crept forward on all four legs. Its canine head swayed back and forth as it held its nose to the ground, the fog of the creature's hot breath disturbing the ash and melting the snow beneath as it passed. The boy still didn't acknowledge its presence, even as it stood a mere six meters away…

Then it drew in until it was five meters out…

Then three…

Then one…

Then, it closed in the last remaining feet until it was only a mere few inches away from him, its hot breath on his face. The air smelled of death and fresh blood, and it was panting hard enough for the boy to feel it even through the layer of ash on his face, which seemed to stir him from whatever trance he'd been under previously. It was then that he seemed to notice the creature, and realize exactly the full extent of trouble he was in. His eyes regained the light of human awareness for a brief moment before they grew wide and the pupils narrowed with a fear that caused his muscles to tense and his breath to grow more ragged, in spite of his best attempts to quell it. Yet still he did not stand nor flee…

He had been paralyzed in fear, unable to move for a completely different reason this time, not that running would do much good for him, seeing as with the creature's longer legs, powerful muscles, and rending claws, the thing would easily run him down and slay him without issue. The simple fact was that this creature was a predator made for the hunt, while he was no more than a human child, and it was doubtful the beast had any issues with the ripeness of its quarry. Really, the only hope for survival that he had was to lie perfectly still and wait; it had missed him completely before so it might very well pass him by, right?

Unfortunately, it seemed even then that his chances of seeing daylight again were slim, as evidenced by the creature when it let out a loud snarl; a growl that echoed through the forest and vibrated in his chest. The sound seemed to rile up the horde of demons at its back, and they darted forward from the foliage mere moments later, though it would seem as though they weren't going to get a shot in on him, seeing as the beast before him had reared up and was swinging its curiously apelike paw down at him. As the lycanthrope monster's curved claws descended upon him, the boy screwed his eyes shut and reflected _"Mommy… Daddy… I'll see you soon."_ he thought as he waited for the pain, followed by darkness. The sharp hooks of the wolf-beast's hands fell swiftly and were quick to meet flesh…

Only to stop as they touched the skin.

It wasn't for lack of trying that the creature couldn't cut the male, but rather that its claws simply were unable to pierce the skin, or even mark it, or really do anything to the person. The child slowly cracked open one of his eyes upon noticing he was laying unharmed, and there he saw a second bipedal form in the shadow of the were-beast, an arm held up to the side almost casually as the claws drove into it with immense force, though unable to pierce the outer layer. The person was shorter than the creature by a good deal, and seemingly even shorter than an average adult human, but aside from that and the fact its form was covered in long tattered robes, the boy could see no discerning features. The person gave a very masculine grunt as he pushed the claws of the creature away, which was apparently unsure how to proceed as it stood a mere few feet away from the man, growling at him warily, the rest pausing and following its lead. "You shall harm no other this night." the short man spoke with a gruff voice that held an almost oppressive power, as well as a sharp edge to it that bespoke the apparent danger these creatures now faced. As though responding to the thinly veiled threat, the beast before him snarled deeply, yet still made no move to assault him as they stood there for a moment, glaring into eachother's eyes as if searching for something or waiting for their opponent to make the first move. Needless to say, it was a tense few moments in which they stared down, the beasts behind the wolf-thing equally as on-edge as their apparent alpha dog, and a fight was sure to break out between them.

It would seem, though, that the conflict would have to be put of for another time, as it was interrupted by a new sound. This call emanated from some far-off place deep in the woods, and sounded so blood curdling, so unnatural, that there was no way any living, naturally occurring animal or mortal being could have made it. This otherworldly, daemonic noise drew the attention of both the old man and the pack of various monsters, the later of which soon became less tense for some odd reason as they turned their heads to listen to it. After it died down, the pack leader then turned to the old male and gave one last growl, as if to say _"This isn't over"_ before it turned and made off into the woods at great speeds. The other animalistic things lingered, hesitating for a moment as they stared at the two humans in the clearing, before they turned and, as though following some primitive chain of command, followed the wolf-beast out of the clearing, leaving the pair completely untouched.

Once the area was clear of the demon spawn, the older male let out a sigh of relief as the tension flooded from his body before turning to fully face the young boy "My boy…" he said softly in an attempt to soothe him "Are you alright?" he asked, his accent baring a subtle Scottish undertone. The child let out a shuddering breath and gave a short, hesitant nod, but made no verbal response aside from that. Still, the fact that the boy was still breathing and relatively healthy made the old man smile, even in spite of the sadness in his steely grey eyes, which the boy could now see were a shade or two darker than his own ashen orbs. In fact, now that the old man was no longer in the shadow of the wolf demon, many of his features became very apparent to the boy.

The old man had light skin and a short, stout figure that was draped in a set of dull orange robes with tattered ends and a darker orange haori in much the same condition. His hair was white and reached his shoulders in a way that seemed to match his fuzzy eyebrows and long, braided beard in color, the latter of which reached down to his hips and ended in a knot. His wrinkled face was mostly obstructed by his well-groomed facial hair, but what could be seen was twisted in a mix between profound sadness and genuine kindness.

His frown deepened as he turned to face the burning pyre in the distance and clapped his hands once and muttered something under his breath with his head bowed, before returning his attention to the child lying at his feet. Taking to a knee, the man's demeanor became gentle and non-threatening as he pulled a water skin from his robes and held it delicately to the boy's lips, where the youth drank weakly from it "Tell me, d'ya have a name?" he inquired as softly as he could muster. When he finished drinking, the ash covered boy took a short breath before answering "A-Alistair" he barely managed to rasp out, his voice coming out as more of a wheeze than anything even remotely healthy. Still, the response was enough to confirm he was alright, getting a smile from the old man "Well then Alistair, I think 'tis a bit too cold out here to be takin' a nap. Come on, let's get ye' a nice bowl of soup an' a warm bed." he offered, stowing the bottle back into his robes. The man looked down at the small form of the boy, who nodded once more, causing a good amount of the loose ash on his face and in his hair to come free and fall off; not completely, but enough to show more of his features than before.

The boy's features were smooth and had some baby fat to them, proving that he wasn't malnourished, and his ashen grey eyes were more focused now, the pupils no longer narrowed now that the danger had passed. His skin was pale to an almost unhealthy tone, though that could have been the result of anything from the recent shock, to his extended time out in the cold, to a simple life spent more indoors than out. The boy's hair fell down to his shoulders and was slicked back with partially melted snow and wet ash, but if one were to look they could tell that his hair was a deep brown color, though had an odd blond streak in the bangs that fell down the front of his forehead in a lock that was about an inch thick

The old man briefly glanced back to the village "Such a waste…" he muttered under his breath with a sigh, but then returned his attention to Alistair and picked him up in his arms, getting little reaction from the lad as he was lifted. The man held him close and used the large sleeve of his robes to shield the boy from the cold, his shirt having been terribly ripped and soaked through "Still, we managed to save at least one." he said quietly, before walking away from the scene.

**xxxxxx**

As they walked, the crunching of the old man's feet in the snow and the rustling of his robes were the only sounds that the boy could hear in the otherwise silent forest, calming him and giving him a chance to think; something that could have either ended well or poorly depending on where his mind went. His eyes glanced up at the distant pillar of smoke as they drew away from it, and he watched it drift into the sky, focused on it as though he were hypnotized as he slid into deep contemplation, or as deep as a child could get. He remained like that for what could have been anywhere from minutes to hours, looking up at the cloud with a thousand-yard stare even as it disappeared from his view through the thinning branches of the late-autumn woods. Laying there in silent contemplation, he barely noticed as the remaining ash slowly began to flake and fall from his skin, revealing more and more of his pale visage, nor did he notice his skin taking on a more healthy hue as his body grew warmer. The only thing on his mind was everything that had occurred in the last hours of his life.

All the while, the ash began to flake and fall from his face, bit by bit…

After a long time, however, he spoke "…" it was a small squeak, a rasping hiss that sounded more like a tire deflating than any form of language, but it was enough to grab the old man's attention "Ye' say something lad?" he asked with one of his thick, white brows raised. Again, the boy spoke, this time forming words "imm… ill t… all" he got out, his voice stronger this time but still not enough to form complete sentences, but the old man carrying him could make out some of what was being said, and he clearly looked concerned. He had a feeling he knew what the boy said, but he hoped he was wrong "Say again? I'm a bit def in that ear." he implored, urging the boy to speak up and either confirm or refute his suspicions. Then boy did as asked and spoke up once more, and this time his rasping whispers came out loud and clear enough to be heard by the older male without mistake "The Grimm…" he hissed out "I will kill them… all of them." He managed to whisper, before the day caught up to him and he slumped forward into unconsciousness. The old man, however, paused in place momentarily and turned to his new charge with worry written on his face.

"Well that can't be good…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXX **

**A/N: And with that, the prologue is done! What does the future hold for young Alistair? What the hell happened to him? Who is this mysterious old man? All these questions will have their answers eventually; you just need to keep reading to find them.**

**Before anyone says anything; no the bible quote wasn't necessary, but I figured it was a good way to kick everything off, seeing the lore behind the world. If you don't get it, go watch the first episode. **

**Now, though, let's talk about the story itself and what you can expect from both it and me.**

**First off, this story isn't some fine art, nor am I a sensitive artist, this is just a hobby of mine that I do in my spare time and I've decided to share with all three of you reading. **

**Despite that, I put plenty of effort into everything I do and revise my work almost constantly in an attempt to make it presentable, even if I never really planned on presenting it before now. Now that I know people are reading my *ahem* "story" I'll have to work extra hard to make all material palatable for other people; meaning you lot. Because of this, advice and constructive criticism is always welcomed, and I don't even mind people being brutally honest as long as there's some advice on how I could improve, and it's legible. I'm new to this, and I'm not exactly spilling my heart and soul into this, so don't worry about offending me. I have this on my profile, but I feel like it needed to be said again. **

**On the topic of updates, they will come regularly for a while, because I have a number of chapters already made, but they won't always come out on a set schedule. I'll leave an author's note on the last pre-made chapter, but if you want a more detailed reason for why, read the profile, it'll describe my thoughts on the subject.**

**As for the story itself, don't expect it to be stoic or somber. I don't like the concept of the dull-as-wood main character that has some past trauma and acts all emotional and moody while somehow retaining absolutely no personality, so don't expect that. I know that this prologue seems to set that sort of tone, but this is more to establish the main character and his motives beforehand, even if it has a bit of an unpleasant vibe to it. Many of the in-cannon characters have dark pasts, but the difference between them and Alistair is that you get to see his first-hand; or at least a part of it. Really, I plan to make this story much like the source material, meaning that it will be mostly kind of goofy, but with serious tones to it, making for a more fun, lighthearted adventure while keeping the people involved at least somewhat realistic (hopefully). **

**In terms of the plot, it's like I said; I tend to make my stories a sort of "New Game Plus" for fans of the original series, where in this case the "Plus" will be Alistair and my other original characters. Because of this, the fanfiction will parallel the main story, and the OC's involved will interact frequently with the main cannon characters both in the cannon chapters (I'll add them to the storylines of the RWBY episodes) and outside them, meaning that they will be taking part in much of the story. Of course, I can't just add my own characters to RWBY and call it a fanfiction, at least not a decent one; that'd be like painting freckles on the Mona Lisa and calling it my own take on the art. This story will be mainly centered on the OC's and their own thoughts and feelings throughout these cannon scenes, and there will also be times where they will be doing something completely different while the story of team RWBY occurs somewhere else. I'll also be filling in many of the blank spaces between episodes and scenes left in the show, such as the days between "The Badge and the Burden" and the "Jaundice" arc in the main cannon. Needless to say, a lot of this fic will be casual and will revolve around how these people interact and have fun. I have to emphasize this again; this **_**won't**_** be about some emo punk who's pissed off at the world because of his "dark past" despite being surrounded by happy people. Even though I **_**may**_** have made it seem that way… sort of.**

**Speaking of the universe at hand, I want you all to remember that what you see here isn't the original RWBY world, but rather set in an Alternate Universe (AU), in which things may be a bit different from cannon. I don't like breaking lore in any given universe, so don't expect it to get too crazy, but if you see something that shouldn't happen, this is the reason. And no, I'm **_**not**_** just covering my ass in case later material in the show contradicts something I already released; I'm just… making a point on… oh fuck it. I like the series and couldn't be asked to wait until it ended to write this fic. Plus, my OC's will already be messing with some of the timeline, so it's not like it'll be the exact same as the show anyways. Plus, I might be able to work this into that **_**other**_** thing… bah! Never mind that for now!**

**With that out of the way, I'll now talk about the inspiration behind the characters. **

**Much like the series itself, I make any and all original characters at least loosely based off of actual fairytales from children's stories, nursery rhymes, epic mythos, or classic literature. I did this partially because I was worried my OC's wouldn't fit in with the world and partially because of a flash of inspiration I felt that I needed to write down, then expanded on.**

**In designing some of my characters, I may have had a bit of fun and decided to merge a few different legends into one person, among the most obvious of which will be Alistair. See, the story behind his character is a funny one, because I originally had one base source in mind; the story of Dorian Grey, hence the name. However after writing my initial version of the fiction I found that I concocted a very dry and boring Mary Sue with a posh accent and the ability to regenerate from any wound almost instantly as a semblance… not like we've ever seen **_**that**_** power before.**

**So I scrapped it and came out with something totally different by finding adding another storybook character and working off him. However I realized he had little to no combat abilities, so I added another into the mix and blended them together to make what you will see before you. I'll not spoil the exact inspirations, but I'll tell you that they both came from classic literature.**

**Because of this, I've devised a little game; see if you can guess the characters my OC's are based off of. You can expect plenty of symbolism relating to the original works, which will be little hints for you who can't figure it out, and Easter eggs for those of you who can. **

**As for Alistair himself, I kind have had some fun with his character… maybe more than I should have. A few of the references are a bit of a stretch, and the character himself has several features about himself and his back story that have little to no relation to his inspirations, but there are also many similarities that I feel counter the relatively few differences.**

**In spite of all this, I assure you that I do research the subjects and characters that I base my "work" on, so if you look close enough you're likely to find similarities.**

**Well, that's all I got for now! See you in the next chapter!**


	2. Ch1 Old Friends and New Beginnings

**Chapter 1: Old Friends and New Beginnings**

**The first actual chapter of my first posted story! I'm both excited and nervous to see how people like it!**

**Since this chapter's going up the same day as the prologue, everything I have to say is already said, and there's not going to be any responses to messages on the prologue until chapter two, not that I'm expecting any for **_**just**_** a prologue.**

**Just a quick note, but I will be describing things or characters that fans of the series may already know but others might not. It may seem silly to mention this, but for the sake of convenience I'll try to keep all character/set descriptions and lore explanations to one paragraph, so that people who already know them can just skip over.**

**If there are any comments for me after this chapter, then just leave a review or pm me if you have the liberty.**

**That's all I have to say. Now, on with the show!**

"Speech"

'_Thought/Reading'_

"Synthesized/Robotic Speech"

*Onomatopoeia* (sound effect)

**(Author's Note)**

**Xxxxxx Scene Change xxxxxx**

**xxxxxx **Scene Break

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any materials referenced here. RWBY is the machination of Monty Oum and property of Roosterteeth.**

**Let the story BEGIN!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX **

Alistair was making his way down the dark streets of the commercial district, toying with the lollipop in his mouth, as indicated by the slight bobbing of the stick while he looked over the small digital camera in his grip. A faint smile was firmly in place on his features as he allowed the cherry flavored treat to melt on his tongue _"24-hour stores are awesome like that."_ he mused silently to himself. The boy was now 17 years of age, and had cleaned up rather nicely, all things considered.

His hair was neatly combed down to his shoulders, the blond strand falling to just above his right brow, and framed his somewhat pale, angular face and lively grey eyes, which focused on the camera's moving lens as he clicked one of the buttons. He sported a grey hooded sweater to keep the chill out and a white t-shirt could barely be seen poking out from underneath, adding an extra layer of protection from the nippy evening wind. What little of the t-shirt that could be seen protruding from the underside of the sweater served as an excellent break in the monotony of his outfit, given that his legs were clad in a slightly darker grey pair of cargo pants with numerous pockets littering the legs, most of which bulged with objects of unknown origin, save for the wires that hung out of some. His feet were encased in a simple set of white running shoes that tapped on the concrete sidewalk beneath them.

Currently, he had a number of preparations to make for his departure the next day, which mainly involved packing up the mess that was his workshop into numerous crates and bags for transfer to his soon-to-be new home at a later date. It was a bit of a task for him and he was only half way done before he needed to go out and take a break; needless to say he wasn't looking forward to the next few hours of his night. He was heading for the illustrious Beacon Academy, one of many specialized combat schools that trained young men and women in the art of combat so that, when they came of age, they could be inducted into a unique combat force known as "hunters" collectively. These huntsmen and huntresses are a special breed of semi-freelance warrior specifically trained from a young age in a separate school system to the government educational system that teaches them to combat, among other things, the enemy to all sentient life; the creatures of Grimm. These demons are soulless things that look to all the world like perversions of nature, the most common sorts taking the form of twisted animals that actively south out and slaughtered people wherever they resided, consuming their flesh and destroying their cities. They were mindless creatures and as far as the teen could discern, they lacked even basic self-preservation instinct, making them unflinching in combat even after thousands of their kin have been cut down. The Grimm don't show emotions, they feel no pain, and they never relent in their quest to bring about an end to sentient life forms across the world of Remnant; and it's the job of the special soldiers –these monster hunters- to track these things down and destroy them wherever they pose a threat to the thinking people of the world.

Alistair was among these young people who aspired to be a huntsman, just as his forebears had before him, and he hoped many others would after him, in fact the former of which was partly what had inspired him to choose this career path. However, his combat style was a bit more complex than most other sorts, and as such took many various components to utilize to its fullest extent, which was why he wasn't looking forward to the night ahead. The male sighed "So much work to be done." he muttered, though it was unclear whether he was talking about the camera or the work he still needed to do.

That issue was for later, though, as he decided to push the matter from his mind for the time being and managed to pry himself from the work to have some fun in his own, slightly unusual way. He turned the camera around and popped open the back, looking at the inner workings, and held up his left hand to grab the now candy-deprived lollipop stick from his mouth. The arm bore a strange looking gauntlet that made the boy stand out in a crowd. It looked like an elbow length leather sleeve that was held tightly against his skin and coated in various metal plates covering the back of his arm and hand, along with metal caps on the fingers and knuckles. A symbol was engraved into the surface of the plate on his hand, which resembled an eye, but the pupil was a vertical slit and looked inhuman and was set inside what looked like a simple gear, a pair of bolts protruding from the sides.

The male tossed the stick in a nearby trash can as he looked over the camera in his hand more intently, as though trying to take it apart in his mind and figure out what made it tick without touching it, however all attempts were made fruitless when he heard something from overhead. He looked away from his camera and up into the starry sky to find the source of the distraction, and there he saw something highly unusual; a "bullhead" VTOL aircraft, flying a bit too low over the city to be mistaken for any commercial flight or military drill. The engines ran quietly and were difficult to detect through the din of the late evening city, even from such a low elevation, but he could still hear their whirring and see the unique outline of the airship itself heading back into the commercial district that he'd just left. He just stood there for a second, staring at the machine with a look somewhere between contemplative and annoyed, as though debating internally whether he should follow the bullhead or simply disregard it.

He let out a sigh of exasperation as the contemplative part of his expression was overridden by the irritation as he seemed to come to the conclusion that he had to follow the thing to see what was going on. Closing the back of the camera and stowing it back into his sweater pocket, the male grumbled and turned to face a seemingly random nearby building "I swear, if I'm getting suspicious for nothing…" he then trailed off into an incomprehensible grumble. Taking a flying leap, the boy seemed to soar several feet forward and over two stories up with apparently minimum effort only to land on the roof with an unusual grace not unlike that of a hawk. He looked over towards the bullhead and saw it slowly lower itself into the shopping district, not making a sound as it descended beneath the rooftops, which caused the teen to sigh again in annoyance. "Brilliant." he grumbled to himself, his voice taking a tone of displeasure "Here I thought I'd arrive home in a timely manner." he said before taking off across the rooftops towards the goal; whatever this bullhead was doing certainly couldn't have been good. "I feel uneasy…" he muttered, then kicked off the lip of another roof and managed to skip one of the shorter buildings, landing on another across from it.

"And today was going so well, too…"

**Xxxxxx Meanwhile; Local Dust Shop xxxxxx **

The night was rather quiet as the elderly shopkeeper tended the counter, lovingly polishing the display case to ensure no smudges or marks spoiled the view of his merchandise; Dust, several different sizes, shapes and colors of the crystalline substance lined the soft cushions in the display.

The material called Dust was, by textbook definition, a naturally occurring energy propellant that took the form of crystals and was naturally attuned to one of the four basic elements, but in reality this description did the substance little justice. For starters, each of the four types of dust had their own aspects and properties that could be used in different ways for spectacular, astounding, and sometimes deadly effects by themselves, however they could also be combined to create entirely new types that had their own unique properties. Over the centuries since its discovery, people have uncovered or invented different ways to utilize it to its fullest extent, harnessing and controlling the power of this mysterious substance for their benefit.

From airships, to ammunition, to combat robots, the thinking people of Remnant have integrated the miraculous substance into nearly every aspect of modern day technology, using it to drive them from the brink of extinction to a glorious era of power and prosperity. Naturally such a valuable substance was in high demand, and as with all objects of value, possession of large quantities tend to make a person a target to those who were willing to resort to less reputable means of acquiring it.

**xxxxxx **

Several forms casually stepped out of the aircraft as it settled in the alley, most of which were clad in cheap black suits and dress shoes, with red ties, tinted glasses of the same shade, and the occasional fedora on some of their heads, all of which together gave them the appearance of illicit businessmen. The one at the front of the group, however, stood out among the rest.

He wore a fine white coat over a black undershirt, some high-quality black dress pants and matching shoes, and a set of gloves that matched the color. A curtain of his bright orange hair protruded from the front of the bowler's hat on his head, hiding the leftmost of his grey eyes and curling away from his pale skin. The man turned back and gave an "ok" signal to the remaining people in the back of the VTOL before gesturing for the other men to follow his lead as he left the alley.

He swung his cane as he walked with a confident, almost arrogant swagger to his step, which was well earned if the reactions of those around him were anything to go by. He had to smirk around his cigar as people shrank away and began to flee from him and his men as they passed, obviously having attained some sort of reputation with them. All thoughts of his public image vanished from his mind, however, upon approaching the small dust shop at the end of the street, where he looked up at the sign, reading _"From Dust 'Till Dawn"_ with a small chuckle at the obvious play on words, before entering.

The elderly man at the counter looked up as the orange haired male entered his store, flanked by several others in matching suits; the group looked like they were up to no good. The man in front looked very familiar to him, however the old man was a bit slow on the uptake in his advanced age, and the late hour wasn't helping any, so he hadn't been expecting much in the way of trouble. That said he didn't take too kindly to the visitors when the orange haired man pulled the cigar from his lips and flicked the ashes onto the wooden frame of his display case, burning a black mark into the once-pristine surface he'd taken great care to maintain. The shopkeeper was about to speak up against the act, but the apparent leader of this rabble beat him to it "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open at this hour?" he asked. The older man didn't have time to respond or react, as one of the men at the orange haired male's side drew a gun and pointed it at the now frightened cashier, who now had his hands up in surrender.

"I don't want any trouble. P-Please just take my lien and leave." he stuttered out, only for the man leading the robbery to let out a good-natured chuckle "Relax old man, we're not here for your money." he said in a faux reassuring manner. He then turned to the men at his side "Grab the Dust." he ordered simply, before standing back to watch the proceedings as his henchmen got to work looting the place. As all of the men sprung into action, one at the front of the group pulled a suitcase up from his side and placed it on the counter, turning it towards the old man and holding it open before he began issuing orders. "Burn, uncut." he said stoically, yet firmly, and the old man complied by reaching into the glass display and retrieving a red, opaque crystal before placing it in the case. As this was happening, a few others stepped off to the side of the store where there were sat a number of huge silver tanks parallel to the wall, each filled with purified Dust, which took the form of a fine powder. They attached silver canisters to the ends of these tubes and began to empty the contents into them.

Meanwhile, one of the henchmen moved to the opposite side of the store to his partners, searching a set of shelves for more loot they could pilfer, only to catch something out the side of his eye that made him turn. A small figure stood at the very back of the shop clad mostly in a black and red ensemble with a bright red hooded cloak dangling from the back and flowing in a non-existent wind. This figure was obviously female, even though the man couldn't see her face, if her state of dress was anything to go by.

Given her height, the girl couldn't have been more than 16, and was clad in a black blouse with long sleeves, which was bound by a black leather corset over her midriff with strings of red holding it tight against her body just. A black skirt fell down her thighs and splayed out, with red frills at the end to break up the monotony between the skirt and her black leggings, which descended into a pair of black, knee-high combat boots with red soles and laces. Over all, she seemed to have a fondness for the "Gothic Lolita" style.

Where most would see just another cute girl, the man saw an easy way to make a quick and easy buck on the side of this job. Unfortunately for him, the only thing he was _making_ was a very big mistake, which he would soon find himself learning the hard way.

**Xxxxxx Meanwhile; Nearby Rooftop xxxxxx **

The young man stood atop the roof and looked over the area from a vantage point that let him see both the bullhead and the dust store not far down the street, the former of which was still carrying several men in suits. _'Those look like Junior's men.'_ he mused to himself _'Why would they bother looting such a small-time Dust shop? I know he's been in need of funds since his club exploded, but such small jobs are typically beneath him…'_ he thought, looking over the craft. He then blinked in surprise as he seemingly realized something "Since when does he have access to bullheads?" he questioned with a worried look on his face.

He sighed and looked contemplative as he surveyed the area, before pulling a small, thin slab of pure silvery metal with a line down the middle and a green diamond button in the very center. The slab slid open at the seam, and between the two halves was a holographic screen that resembled that of a touch screen phone, with numerous applications on its metaphysical surface, one of which was the speed-dial number to the Vale police department. His thumb hovered over the number, but he hesitated to press it for some reason, opting instead to pull up his grey hood and observe the proceedings down below with a keen eye in case something undesirable occurred.

Of course, he didn't have to wait long for said undesirable event to take place. One of the men that had entered the shop soon came flying out through the front window, much to his surprise. Alistair merely stood there with a look of bewildered shock on his mostly hidden features "Well… that was unexpected." he commented as he regained his composure, though with some effort, ducking behind the chimney protruding from the roof upon which he stood. His confusion was cleared up moments later when the exact reason for the man's misfortune flung herself through the now shattered window in a flash of red color and motion, bringing a sigh to the male's lips. "With that, now I'll _have _to get involved, won't I?" he said in exasperation.

**Xxxxxx Moments Earlier; In the Shop xxxxxx **

The hapless robber approached the smaller form of the girl, drawing a curved red cleaver from his belt as he did and brandishing it in a menacing manner "Alright, hands where I can see them." he ordered, only for his brows to furrow when she seemingly ignored him. He growled in indignation and stomped over to the girl "Hey! You have a death wish or something?" he asked her, placing a hand upon her cloaked shoulder and turning her around to face him, only for her hood to fall back and reveal her face, set in a confused expression. The girl had a youthful face with round features, not unlike others of her apparent age group, in which were set a pair of curious, innocent eyes of the most dazzling silver that gleamed with purity and childlike exuberance and were framed by ragged, shoulder length hair of such a deep red that they were nearly black.

She looked at him with obvious, innocent confusion in her eyes as the man was made aware of the reason she hadn't heard him, being that she was wearing a set of red and black headphones that blocked all sound from being heard. Frustrated, the man gestured to his own ears, which the girl responded to by removing the headphones and letting them sit around her neck "Yes?" she asked curiously, apparently not noticing the obvious weapon in his hand. The man's brows came together once more, this time in an angry scowl as he brought the blade to bear again "I said put your hands in the air. Now." he commanded, and the girl's eyes narrowed; one could _see_ the gears turning in her head.

"Are you… robbing me?" she asked in genuine confusion, and the male was left unable to respond for a moment as he tried to comprehend the girl before him. Snapping out of it, the man began to grow absolutely irate with the girl, who was either insanely inept, or just messing with him. "Yes!" he exclaimed, not in the mood for this shit.

"Ohhhh…"

And that was how the man found himself on the other side of the window.

**xxxxxx **

The girl stood over the fallen robber, wielding a massive scythe with a blade about as large as she was tall, bringing the blade down into the ground to rest it, only for the sharp point to leave a deep gouge in the asphalt of the road. Upon seeing this, the criminal leader's eyes narrowed in both confusion and irritation "Okay…" he muttered, before looking between the remainder of his gawping comrade. "Get her." he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, and they wordlessly drew their weapons before complying with the order. They didn't last long, to say the least.

One ran straight at her, taking a swing at her legs in what was likely a bid to immobilize her, but the strike was evaded as she hopped over the blade with practiced ease while keeping her left hand on the scythe, which barely moved as she placed her entire weight on it, as a testament to its own mass. The man who swung at her was rewarded for his efforts with a swift double-kick to the head as the red haired girl swung around atop her weapon and brought both feet forward in an astonishing acrobatic display, balancing only on a single hand while upon her weapon's handle, which remained parallel to the ground. As the first punk hit the ground, the girl spun around using the momentum and then flew directly upwards, pulling the blade of her weapon from the ground as she did so in yet another display of her inhuman strength. Upon landing, she flourished the weapon and slung it back in a battle-ready stance, which was convenient for her since two of the thug's friends were running up behind her with blades ready for melee combat… just not with her.

She reached forward and pulled a trigger on the handle which resulted in a loud bang and a flash of light emitting from the head of the scythe, revealing the weapon's secondary function as a firearm of some description. A rather high-caliber one if the sound was an indicator.

Rather than using the projectile weapon in its intended fashion, the girl instead took advantage of the recoil of the weapon to immediately gather huge amounts of momentum that increase the power of her swing to a degree that she probably couldn't achieve otherwise, even with her apparently superhuman strength. Using this burst of speed and striking power, she spun around and swung her scythe, using the blunt back end of the head to smack away the closer of the two approaching enemies, which sent him flying off down the street a short distance. She stopped her spin when she was facing the remaining enemy, however there was still a considerable amount of force behind her scythe, but she managed to use that to her advantage by redirecting the momentum and twirled the scythe like a baton, bringing it down on top of the thug. He wasn't quick enough to evade the overhead swing and wound up on his back in a crater in the road, likely with several broken bones, but his groans of pain indicated that the titanic force of the swing hadn't killed him. The girl didn't pause, and turned to face the remaining foes.

It would appear that while she was dispatching the other henchmen, the one that she'd first knocked out the window had managed to slink off and retrieve a military-grade combat rifle (She would later question from where), which he then aimed at her before pulling the trigger and unleashing a hail of bullets on her petite form. The man had to balk, however, as he missed the girl with every shot he fired; not for lack of trying, but because the girl literally _dodged_ every bullet unleashed from the automatic weapon. The red haired girl was like an invisible whirlwind as she moved so fast that the naked eye couldn't track her. She flickered from one place to another in a blur of motion and left only a trail of rose petals in her wake. After darting back away from another round of firing, she then changed course and moved directly at her assailant as he paused to reload his weapon, only to drop the clip in surprise when he noticed her coming too fast for him to react. The girl dropped down mid-run into a slide, as though she were a baseball player sliding into home base, and delivered an upwards kick when she was just below the man, sending him high into the air. As the last of her enemies went flying, she stopped her slide short by swinging her scythe down into the road, leaving yet another pothole in her wake as she halted her momentum completely and flipped up to her feet before flinging herself up into the air after her flailing victim. She somehow managed to rise until she was level with the man in the air, then she then spun quickly in place and used the back end of her scythe to bat him away and directly into the street, where slid for a while until he came to a stop at his boss's feet, unconscious.

The orange haired man looked down almost apathetically at his henchman "You were worth every cent, truly you were." he quipped sarcastically towards his incapacitated thugs before turning to his newest adversary. The girl swung the weapon down and gestured towards him "End of the line, big guy!" she said in a tone that would normally be heroic, if her voice wasn't that of a cute little girl. The man only smirked around his cigar for a moment "Indeed it is." he said, only for the sound of multiple guns being loaded to draw the girl's attention to what was behind her "For you." the ring leader finished cockily. The young hero turned around to find herself faced with a line of at least five other men, all of which were armed with similar rifles to the last of the henchmen she'd just incapacitated. The orange haired man plucked the unfinished tobacco from his lips and tossed it to the ground, before dousing it with the end of his cane "Well Red, I think we can all agree it's been an eventful evening. However now we must part ways."

The girl turned to face the new threat with a cocky smirk of her own, clearly confident in her abilities as she readied her weapon for another round, but it was as though nature's wrath itself seemed to deny her this combat, as the fight was cut short by a crack of thunder. Everyone jumped, not having expected the phenomenon, however both the cloaked girl and the criminal leader were the only ones to realize one very important fact; there were no clouds hanging in the night's sky.

At that, chaos erupted amidst the criminals' firing line as flashes of light broke out across their number and the men began falling left and right. The street lights flickered sporadically and bolts of lightning rained down on the men, arcing out of the metal poles and directly into their guns, forcing them to their knees and making them drop the weapons. They hardly had a chance to squeak before they all passed out and fell to the ground in a twitching mess of entangled limbs and, in one unfortunate case, a pool lightly steaming bodily fluids.

The sudden interference left the two standing combatants confused and more than a little nervous "What-" started the cloaked girl, but soon found her question answered as a third figure joined her on the street, landing nimbly among the unconscious thugs from a nearby roof. A dark grey hood hid his face from their view and a metal gauntlet of sorts covered his left arm, crackling with electricity as an indicator of who exactly was behind the rogue lighting fixtures. He looked up from the thugs and the shadow of his hood retracted enough to reveal his mouth, which was set in a small smirk "This is quite the sorry sight; a group of grown men teaming up on a single little girl." he chuckled. The male then turned to look specifically at the older man in the bowler hat "Oh. And I never took you for a cliché, Roman. 'For you'? Seriously?" he commented on the man's earlier quip with obvious amusement, much to the thief's irritation and confusion.

Meanwhile, the girl had been looking at him with a squint as she tried to figure out his identity, at least until his comment on her being a little girl fully sunk in "Hey!" she said after a moment of thought, surprising him slightly and drawing his attention. He turned to her with a look of confusion, though it was wiped from his concealed features when the girl huffed and pouted indignantly "I'm not a little girl!" she corrected him while turning away from him childishly. The man couldn't help but laugh a little; amused at seeing the girl who had clearly just disabled a group of heavily armed criminals now pouting like a child. She glared at him lightly upon hearing him laugh, so he held up his hands in a placating gesture "My apologies for the disservice. But perhaps we might argue semantics another time?" he asked politely, doing his best to be respectful. The girl seemed to calm down and laughed a little "Uhh, yeah. Maybe not the best time." she said sheepishly and they then turned back to the criminal they'd been about to face off with "Now as for you-" their eyes widened upon realizing the man was gone "Huh!?" she exclaimed. The male meanwhile then turned around and began looking up and down the road "Where'd Torchwick go?" asked Alistair, only for the girl to point up over his shoulder, where he turned to see the man scaling a ladder up the side of a building. He turned back to the cloaked girl as she spoke to the Dust shop's owner "You okay if I go after him?" she asked, and the old man grunted out an "mhm" of affirmation.

The girl turned towards where Torchwick had escaped to, only to find Alistair already half way there with a playful smirk on his hooded features "Coming, milady?" he called back to her, only for the girl to give a smirk of her own in return. She suddenly disappeared in a flash of rose petals and reappear only slightly ahead of him "Just catch up when you can." she returned cockily, before darting off towards the building and leaping up its wall without effort. The hooded male chuckled "Surprised me for a second." he said to himself before hurrying to catch up.

Landing behind the fleeing criminal, her thud was enough to catch his attention, though aiming her sniper at him and shouting "Hey!" was ultimately what made him pause in his tracks. He didn't face her, but rather turned over his shoulder to look at her out the corner of his eye "Persistent." he growled out in irritation, before another thud alerted both to the appearance of the hooded male just behind the red haired girl. Hearing her unexpected backup arrive, the girl smirked at Torchwick "Hands where we can see 'em." she said, only for her smirk to fade as the older of the males chuckled, confusing the two teens, who glanced briefly between eachother. Suddenly, the bullhead burst up from the alley in a gust of wind that caused the younger of the two of the roof's occupants to stumble back "Oh… I forgot about that." the male said, and the redhead looked at him with a deadpan stare. "Really?" she asked, and Alistair chuckled sheepishly, only to turn back to the thief as he climbed aboard the aircraft and turned back to them with a mocking smile on his face. Torchwick reached into his jacket "It's like you said, Red! End of the line!" he called over the sound of the engines, before retrieving a red Dust crystal from his jacket and tossing it at the feet of the black clad girl.

Both teens had only a moment to realize what was happening, and their eyes grew wide as the man in the aircraft lifted his cane at the gem and the bottom flipped open, revealing it as a firearm. Both sets of eyes widened and there was a sudden blur of motion before the shot rang out and a flash of light hit the Dust, resulting in an explosion that rocked the building and filled the area with smoke and flames. "Woo! Hahahah!" Torchwick whooped and cackled loudly at the explosion and glanced down to revel in the results, only to scowl moments later at what he witnessed.

The red hooded girl's eyes had been screwed shut and she used her arms to shield herself from the blast that was soon to come. When it did come, however, there was no pain; no shrapnel piercing her flesh, no fire licking at her skin, no smoke choking her lungs, not even the slightest tingle of pain to prickle at her nerves. Though there was a strange warmth, not a burning warmth like one would feel sitting too close to an open flame, but the sort of sensation she got from laying in bed with a blanket over her body. She opened her eyes and was met with the sight of a grey curtain in front of her face, much to her surprise "Wha-" she jumped slightly when another voice sounded above her "Are you alright?" asked the male. She leapt away in surprise, and looked up to see the hooded man standing there with what she perceived as an amused smirk on his face "It would appear so." he answered his own question with a chuckle. The girl was left speechless for a moment, unsure how to react to someone just throwing themselves in front of an explosion like that, but her attention was swiftly drawn from the hooded youth to the shape of yet another combatant, who made her presence known.

This new challenger to the criminal mastermind took the form of a tall, mature woman with light blond hair done up in a bun, a single curly lock of which fell down her pale forehead and over one of her stern, bright green eyes. Her outfit was simple, comprised of a white blouse with black buttons, a tight black business skirt, and a set of dark stockings that descended into a pair of black high-heeled shoes, all of which gave her the image of an intellectual. The only divergence from this highly professional air was the short black cape with the purple lining, which ended in several swirling strips of cloth that gave it a somewhat ragged appearance. In her hand, she held a riding crop which she seemed to have used to conjure forth the floating blue barrier of energy, fashioned to resemble a runic array, which she had apparently used to defend the two teens from the blast.

Adjusting her spectacles, she dropped the barrier as the smoke settled and revealed the now group of three to the man in the bullhead, who was obviously displeased by his number of setbacks increasing as opposed to decreasing. He didn't have much chance to contemplate this, as the woman soon made a swift gesture and unleashed a scattershot Dust blast from the riding crop in her grasp _'I shudder to think on the implications behind her weapon choice.'_ mused Alistair briefly as both he and his shorter ally readied for combat once more.

The man inside the bullhead, meanwhile, stumbled as the machine was pelted by Dust and swerved in the air, and he moved out of sight behind the wall of the vehicle "We've got a huntress!" the male called to someone else over the roar of the engines. Alistair could barely register the comment before the woman in front of him gave off a purple glow then sent out yet another burst of dust from her crop, this one taking the form of a directed cloud of mist that whirled through the air like an ethereal spear. It didn't hit the bullhead, instead sailing over the machine where it stopped mid-air and birthed a swirling funnel cloud over the battlefield, which then glowed briefly in much the same manner as the woman had earlier, before unleashing a flurry of sharpened ice bolts. The spell rained its full wrath upon the hovering craft, causing it to swerve and go off balance for a brief time, but other than some superficial punctures in the hull, it remained unharmed. The hailstorm ended just as another combatant came into view within the hanger of the vehicle, this one clad in a red battle dress and shielded from view by shadows, through which the only things that could be seen were the runes that lined her clothes and her smoldering eyes, both of which glowed a bright orange like embers in a flame.

Alistair shivered as his own grey orbs widened marginally _'This one… gives me a bad feeling.'_ he thought to himself as he watched the woman raise a hand, in which an orb of flame materialized. Oddly enough, it didn't project any glow to illuminate her face. Seeing that, he spat a curse under his breath and his eyes darted back and forth across their field of battle, looking for something in particular; only for them to immediately land on an old wire clothesline stretched between two buildings, obviously worn and forgotten.

As he was doing that, the shadowed woman in the bullhead flung her hand forth and the fire within shot forward towards the group, but the blond woman seemed to be left completely unaffected by the assault, as she calmly made to conjure something else. She halted her spell before it was completed when a shorter figure appeared in front of her, accompanied by the sound of wires snapping, like a broken guitar string. The fire Dust that had been hurdling towards the group was suddenly smacked from the air scattered harmlessly by what appeared to be a dancing flash of light, and upon looking down at the smaller shape, she saw the exact reason behind it. Standing before the group was Alistair, still hidden under his hood and wielding a thick wire in his left hand, one end wrapped around it, the other glowing orange from the fire it had deflected, and the bit in-between charged with flickering electricity. He looked over his shoulder and gave the woman a silent thumbs-up with his free hand, which she greeted with a neutral look, though he decided to take it as an expression of gratitude, even if she obviously didn't need the assistance.

They were broken from their silent exchange when the concrete beneath their feet suddenly began to glow bright orange and heat up considerably, seemingly at the behest of the powerful, enigmatic woman in the bullhead, and the two of them naturally leapt out of the way of the blast, though the male was left clutching his shoulder and hissing briefly in pain.

The girl in the red cloak was quick to join him by his side upon noticing his plight, happy to leave the women to their duel "Are you alright?" she asked him with a worried expression, and he nodded "I was a bit slow to respond." he chuckled as he took the hand away from his arm. The portion of his sweater where he'd been hit was singed and burned away, and in its place was left an angry red patch of skin with a mildly bleeding wound about as thick as a pencil, but the outer edges were cauterized, minimizing bleeding. The girl looked concerned for the mysterious male "Oh no!" she panicked briefly as she searched around "Uhh, here." she said as she pulled a small kerchief from her pocket "This should keep the dirt out at least." the girl then began to wrap the wound. The male smiled a bit at her "My thanks miss…" he left the sentence hanging, indicating the fact that he didn't know her name, causing her to rub the back of her head "Ruby. Ruby Rose." she filled in for him. The male nodded "Ruby Rose, huh? Fitting." he said with a little smile of his own, and she nodded with a giggle "Thanks. So, what's your name?" she asked. He was about to respond, before a loud explosion rang out from the bullhead "Oh, right. Maybe this isn't the best time for introductions." she said sheepishly "Indeed." he responded with a nod.

In the few moments the teens were having their little exchange of words, the two women were exchanging blows. Just after the explosion, the blond woman gestured her crop towards the shrapnel that used to be the concrete roof and it glowed purple similarly to the rest of her previous attacks, before it all hovered in the air and compressed together into a giant floating javelin. The concrete spike was then sent hurtling towards the aircraft with a precise movement on part of the woman, and though it was met with resistance in the form of numerous flaming bolts fired by the shrouded woman, it simply reformed each time and continued along its trajectory. From his place in the cockpit, Torchwick saw the incoming spell and tilted the craft to the side, using the wing to shield his companion from it and sending the attack scattering in all directions. The blond woman then manipulated the shrapnel once more, this time forming three serpentine wisps which then proceeded to pummel the aircraft from all sides, but this assault lasted only a moment before they were dispelled by an orange explosion of energy. That caught the attention of the two teens.

Rejoining the battle instantly, Ruby converted her scythe into what looked like a sniper rifle and opened fire upon the woman in the craft with incredible accuracy, given that she wasn't even using the scope and opted to fire from the hip, nearly hitting the woman every time. This impeccable aim of hers was rendered useless, however, as the woman deflected the Dust shots with her bare hand, simply stopping them in place when they were poised to take her head. Alistair growled in aggravation upon seeing this, but realized that he was also unable to do anything about it; that is until a sudden inspiration hit him and brought a smirk to his face.

Once more the snapping of cords was heard just as Ruby fired the last shot in her clip, and everyone was caught off guard when a streak of light impacted the shot mid-flight, splitting it down the middle as Alistair swung his improvised weapon into its path. Much to the surprise of the two in the VTOL, half the bullet was sent drastically off course and bounced up into the engine of the machine, causing it to spew smoke and jostle, which in turn made the woman stumble just as the second half of the bullet grazed her leg, leaving a deep gash on the skin. The woman hissed in pain and the man in the cockpit swore "Shit! We're leaving!" he called back to his partner, who turned back with a vengeance and held out her hand, casting another explosion spell that caused the three on the roof to scatter and allowing the craft to escape into the sky.

Alistair stood from his crouch with a sigh "Well… that was exciting." he joked lightly, though the mature woman didn't seem too amused by the comment, as evidenced by the mild glare she leveled on him. She held his gaze for a moment, before Ruby suddenly caught her attention by squealing out "You're a huntress!" causing both other occupants of the roof to look at her, only to see stars sparkling in her eyes "Can I get your autograph!?" she asked in awe. The woman looked at her in surprise for a moment, before shaking her head "Young lady, we have some things to talk about. I hope you realize how much trouble you're in." she said sternly, causing the light of admiration to leave the girl's eyes and be replaced by shame. The woman then turned away from Ruby "And you- Huh? Where did-?" she asked, looking around in confusion, catching the red cloaked girl's attention, upon which she looked up and realized the only male of the trio was nowhere in sight, having apparently disappeared from the immediate area. Her heart sank even further "I-I didn't even get his name…" she said sadly while searching desperately for him. She looked to the spot she'd last seen him at, only for her eyes to be drawn to something on the ground; a simple white card with black text scrawled on it. She bent down to pick it up and read it

'_Perhaps another time? A'_ she read, and a small smile graced her lips.

**Xxxxxx Meanwhile; Two houses over xxxxxx **

Alistair sat against a chimney, having escaped the huntress's sight, and sighed "Apologies, milady, but it appears introductions must wait." he muttered to himself as he heard the taller woman give her own sigh and grumble something about finding him later, before escorting Ruby away with her.

The brunette boy waited for a while and made sure that the pair had vacated the area before doing the same, taking care to avoid the police on his way back home. He had some work to do before the morning came around, and it looked like his energy for the day was coming from a hot cup instead of a warm bed.

**xxxxxx **

The boy silently crept his way through the industrial district, slowly making his way to a line of old warehouses by the docks while trying to avoid detection by anyone who might have been in the area at the time. Looking around, he made sure nobody was nearby before slinking up next to warehouse 136, where he spotted a light peeking through the crack of the maintenance door on the side of the building, which had been left slightly ajar and allowed access to the building in place of the huge garage door, which was shut tight. _'Well that's unusual; I turned off the lights and closed the door when I left…'_ he thought with a worried look on his face, only for it to fade moments later and be replaced with a small smirk _'I'm pretty sure I could name a few culprits, actually.'_ he thought with a shake of his head and a chuckle. He withheld any further noises as he slipped into the building and peered around the main room for his intruder.

Over all, the building interior was what one would expect from a warehouse; spacious and filled with crates, however this particular storage structure was neatly organized and divided into sections by high stacks of boxes and shipping containers. The boy had somehow managed to stack all these crates and containers in neat barriers that acted as walls, separating the warehouse into a series of separate pseudo-rooms, with plates of sheet metal put in place to create more solid barriers between certain rooms. The area nearest to the entrance was also the largest of them, taking up nearly half of the warehouse closest to the door, with the giant sliding garage door making up the wall on the left side of the maintenance door that served as a front entrance for the boy. Within the room were a number of scavenged or cobbled worktables, benches, and a large wall lined with pinup boards and whiteboards on which numerous blueprints and machine concept drawings were hung, though it looked quite barren as many of the papers were stacked neatly off to the side. The crate wall to his right had a gap in it, in which a black curtain was hung by a metal rod he'd likely managed to scrounge up and lay between two layers of crates, acting as some sort of makeshift doorway.

At the far end of the large workshop were a number of stacked crates, one of which was sat beside the others and opened at the top, revealing a long, brown tail covered in thick fur, likely belonging to some sort of animal. Where most people would be frightened or wary of any sort of strange entity in their house and would have likely called the police or animal control, Alistair smirked and silently crept forward. His footfall was both graceful and almost completely silent as he moved, foot over foot, towards the invading entity, which remained ignorant of his presence even as he stood a mere meter behind it with his hands ready. Suddenly, his hands lashed out, and the mammal leapt from the crate and with a loud yelp of surprise before landing and turning to face the male, revealing that it wasn't an animal at all.

The "animal" in question was actually a humanoid girl with excess appendages attached. The person was obviously female, with short, chestnut brown hair that matched her long bushy tail and the triangular ears atop her head. Her eyes were a sapphire blue with pupils narrowed into thin ovals, and a lithe figure covered in lean muscles that made her look very streamline and gave her a smaller profile, which was only emphasized by the fact that she was a full head shorter than Alistair. Her skin was lightly tanned and her face was set in a pout as she rubbed her jean-clad rear, a grey t-shirt hiding the rest from view.

The girl huffed "Humph! Don't you know it's rude to grab a woman's butt like that?" she asked him indignantly, earning a sarcastic smirk from the male "I agree completely." he retorted with a chuckle. "However it is also impolite to loot a man's house…" he paused for a moment "At least while he still draws breath." he then added as an afterthought. The girl slumped in place and gave a sigh "Well, when you put it that way…" she trailed off, only to perk up when the male's hand met her head gently and he started to stroke her head, causing her tail to wag like a big puppy. It took her a moment to realize exactly what was going on, and her content look was replaced with one of confusion and embarrassment "C-Cut that out!" she cried, swatting the hand away with an angry blush. The man snickered at that "Apologies, but it's difficult to resist. Especially when your reactions are so amusing." he teased the girl, earning a half-hearted glare from her, which lasted a moment before she simply sighed and rolled her eyes at his antics, looking up at the marginally taller teen with a smile.

"So, what might you be doing here, Renee?" the male asked as he made his way over to the couch near the crate wall and sat down "Well, I figured since you're off to Beacon tomorrow, I'd come to tell you that I'll be attending too." she said with a grin as she followed him to the couch. At that, the boy raised a brow "You _do_ realize there's a test you are required to pass before… you…" he stopped short as the girl retrieved a folded sheet of paper from her shirt "Well then, it would appear you're one step ahead of me." he commented awkwardly. The paper bore a symbol resembling a pair of golden hand axes crossed over a field of the same color, and bore a good sum of information on the girl before him. Put simply, the form contained a description of Renee, her fighting prowess, abilities, and weapons, along with numerous signatures from educators in the huntsman field. Alistair turned from the paper back to his friend with a look of confusion "When did you acquire this?" he asked in surprise, only feeding the girl's smirk "Well, I never really told you this but I only really got into work with my brother so I could pay my way through Signal Academy." she explained proudly with a grin. "What? You never wondered what I was doing out on Patch island?" she giggled.

Alistair remained silent for a moment, before a smile of his own split his face "Oh how adorable." he said teasingly "Little Renee is following me into Beacon. Does she have a secret crush I don't know about?" he asked her with a little smirk, only to receive a bop on the head in return. The girl snatched the paper from him and looked away with her arms crossed "S-Shut up! I already _have_ a boyfriend, you jerk!" she said with a huff, and the male chuckled while rubbing his head "Fine, I concede." he admitted. She nodded with a superior smirk on her face "That's better." she said, before turning to him with a raised brow "Though, if you're so keen on getting a girlfriend, why not visit a club?" she teased with a little laugh.

This only got a scoff from Alistair "You know I have no such desires. A relationship would only distract from my work." he said, standing once more and heading for the nearest workbench. The girl sighed and rolled her eyes "Right, almost forgot about that." she said in a deadpan voice "You'd rather spend your time with machines than with women… I'm starting to worry about you." she said, getting a confused look from him. "Why would you be concerned?" he asked, picking up a half-built robotic arm and examining it "There's no way it's healthy for a young man of your age to _not_ have at least a passing interest in women… or men if that's your thing. But you have neither. You should see a doctor or something." she said, cringing while looking at the metal hand. Alistair snorted "I'm perfectly healthy, I'll have you know. I just refuse to lower myself to the level of those drooling, hormonal _boys_ such as those at Signal academy, or Dust forbid, your brother." he said with a curled nose, before returning to the robot arm. "Besides, I have work that needs to be done and courtship would only interfere." he said before moving over to a crate and stowing the metal limb away inside it "Even if that weren't the case, it's not as though any woman I meet would understand or support my hobby." he explained with an air of finality. The woman sighed in exasperation "One of these days, Alistair, I'm going to find you a nice robot girl, then you'll have no reason to complain." she said while lying back on the couch. The robotics engineer couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him "I'll tell you what. If you can find a mechanical girl with a good personality whom I find physically attractive, then I will consider courting her." he said jokingly. Renee smirked "Until then, I'm sure that arm can serve _numerous_ purposes." she suggested, causing the male's brow to twitch.

He then turned away and cleared his throat, unsure how to react to the implications of what the girl said. "An-Anyways…" he stuttered out "I'm just glad you'll be joining me at Beacon. The time spent there should be far more comfortable this way." he said, totally _not _changing the subject from the thought of his nonexistent machine-sexual tendencies for fear of his mind wandering away from the holy path of purity. Renee giggled to herself upon seeing how she got under his skin and made a mental note to bring it up later "I had a feeling you'd say that." she said with a victorious grin on her face.

Alistair took a deep breath and returned to his normal, prim demeanor as he turned back to this friend "So tell me, why exactly were you rooting through my belongings when I came in?" he asked, turning her triumphant smile into a nervous one as she sat up rigidly and began to sweat. "I… uhh- well…" she hesitated and stammered a little as the boy fixed her with a stare that was between amused and stern, making her grow exceedingly unnerved because she knew she'd been found out, and _he_ knew she knew it as well. The girl slumped in her seat "I was looking for something to sell." she admitted with a sigh of defeat, causing the male's smile to grow a fraction of an inch in a manner that said _'I got you'_ as he walked over to her side. She looked up at him with a nervous smile "Uhh…" she tried to talk herself out of her situation, but he was having none of it. His hand shot out and he flicked her between the eyebrows "Ouch!" she cried as her head flew back in an over- exaggerated expression of pain.

She was quick to recover, and when she had, Alistair was already leaving the room through the hanging curtain, so she naturally decided to follow. She caught his attention again with a childish whine "Come on Alistair! It's not like you're using any of the older designs!" she reasoned "You could sell a lot of what you're hording here for a big cash haul!" the male just rolled his eyes at her persistence. They entered a "hallway" comprised mostly of crates with an old shipping container serving as one of the walls as she tried to make an argument for her case "Like those spider cameras!" she said when a memory of said invention surfaced. "Those would make awesome children's toys! They're cheap to make, and no kid on Remnant wouldn't want one! Or maybe we could sell them on the black market and make a fortune!" she said, listing off a few possibilities. Before she could go into a tangent on this supposedly missed business opportunity, the boy turned back to her with a sigh "Or the police department could deploy them as mobile bugs in your hideouts. Or maybe 'business' rivals could use them to stay one step ahead of you and drive you into the gutter." he countered, stopping her in her tracks. The male then shook his head and returned to his short walk into a separate room "Well… when you put it that way…" the girl muttered in thought as she went slightly pale, earning a chuckle from her friend.

Alistair entered a room that was obviously meant to serve as a kitchen. It had one wall lined with crates, atop which sat several plates of washed and polished sheet metal that acted as the countertop, which held a wireless hotplate on one crate and a teakettle beside it; a washbasin was set between a pair of boxes near the end closest to the wall. At the far end of the room was a small beer fridge on a box, unplugged since there was no outlet, and an old wardrobe with one of the doors missing, in which was set a number of clean dishes.

The male laughed at his friend's thoughtful expression "It has to be said Renee, for a con artist, you have horrible foresight." he said, rifling through the beer fridge. The girl shook her head clear "I'm just having an off day." she argued, and the male snorted "For the past five years?" he returned, holding back a laugh as she shot him a glare. The male pulled a tin of coffee mix from his fridge, then turned from his wardrobe and opened the remaining door to search for a couple of mugs "You take your coffee with one milk and one sugar?" he asked, and she confirmed with a nod. It didn't take long for the water to boil and the drink to finish brewing, and they eventually had their hot mugs, which they carried out into the hall once more, only to take a left and head towards a set of metal stairs. They climbed up into what was once the foreman's office, which was now swept clean of even the most stubborn filth and made into a sleeping quarters for the current resident of the building.

It wasn't the most spectacular room, but it was spacious enough to hold in it a sleeping bag, a desk, and a nightstand, all of which were bereft of anything to add flavor to the room, as it had all been packed into one of many bags sitting in the corner.

The teens made their way to the far end of the room and out a door that lead onto a balcony overlooking the waterfront, on which they stood and stared out at the stars and the shattered moon in the sky. They remained there for a moment of silence before Alistair spoke up again "I warn you now; Beacon is not going to be anything like the streets of Vale, nor are the Grimm like common street thugs." he cautioned her, receiving a nod in return. The girl knew he was right, yet she appeared totally calm about the idea "Yeah, but we know how to deal with rough times, and the academy is there to _teach_ us how to fight the Grimm. As long as we stick together, we should be ok." she said with a confident, reassuring smile.

Alistair gave a light laugh "For as corny as that sounded…" he started, for which she stuck her tongue out at him "Your words hold merit. We've known eachother for years, so it's natural that we can overcome any obstacle together." he finished the thought. The girl looked triumphant at having been justified as the male finished his coffee "At the moment, though, the only obstacle I have to face is the ungodly amount of scrap lying around. Care to help out?" he requested. The girl looked thoughtful "It depends… what's in it for me?" she asked, getting a deadpan look from the male "I can uninstall the software on your scroll that-" he didn't get to finish when the girl's face lit up with a blush and she threw her hands over his mouth.

"It's a deal!"

**xxxxxx **

After a few hours of packing, the mess that had once been the warehouse had finally been cleaned up and stuffed into crates, by which point the broken moon had reached the peak of it's ascent in the night's sky. Alistair snickered when he glanced at Renee, whose tail had been bandaged up thanks to an unfortunate run-in with a mousetrap when she attempted to loot something; though the look on her friend's face told her it wasn't as accidental as he made it out to be. Despite a small number of similar setbacks, they managed to get the room to look relatively acceptable as the majority of the clutter had been organized and packed. Alistair nodded as he observed his now cleaner work area, then looked at the girl beside him, her shirt dirty and soot on her face, but still smiling.

They both then glanced upwards and noticed the position of the moon. Renee stretched and yawned "Midnight already, huh?" she then turned to her friend "Mind if I crash here tonight?" she asked him. The boy chuckled "But of course. Would you like me to wake you early tomorrow?" he asked, knowing she would need to get up early in order shower and groom herself before catching the airship to beacon, which she confirmed with a nod. He mirrored the gesture "Alright then. We'd best get some sleep for the big day." he suggested, placing a hand on the girl's hand and ruffling her hair with a grin as she complained "Hey! Stop that!" while smacking it away once more. He chuckled and turned to leave "And with that, I bid goodnight. Oh, and _do_ try to avoid getting caught in another mousetrap." he warned her teasingly as he turned to leave. The girl glared and stuck her tongue out at him "Ass." she muttered with a pout, before dropping herself down on the couch.

Meanwhile, the male made his way back to his makeshift bedroom and slipped into his sleeping bag with a smile, shutting off the lamp. He knew that in a day's time, his life would change for the better.

"_This should be… interesting."_ he thought to himself, before closing his eyes.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX **

**A/N: And that, my friends, is a wrap! **

**First chapter of the first fic! Let me know what you think!**

**Before any of you ask; No, I don't think it was necessary to have Alistair intervene with Ruby's fight. Even with the added firepower, she could have easily taken on those thugs, but it would have been dull if the first chapter didn't have any conflict or action in it, and I needed to add something to it in order to lengthen the chapter to an acceptable level. Plus, this was a good way to showcase Alistair's primary ability and give you better insight into his character and thought process, both in and out of combat. Well, aside from that whole Grimm genocide thing introduced in the prologue.**

**Speaking of his personality, you may have noticed he speaks a bit oddly. The inspiration hit me at random and I decided to experiment with it, but basically I imagine him speaking in a British accent that's not quite posh, but still very proper. Sort of how you'd imagine in classic literature or certain English television programs if you know what I mean. I guess it fits in with his theme of being based on characters in classic literature.**

**Now, onto the topic of explanation paragraphs. This sort of paragraph essentially turns to the reader and says "This is how the world works." or "This is how the main character did what he did." while explaining the mechanics of everything. I did those in this chapter with the Grimm, Dust, and the concept of huntsmen/huntresses. That said; I would like to make one thing perfectly clear…**

**I don't like using these paragraphs… at all**

**I don't like writing them or reading them because it literally stops the story short just to explain something that could be explained later on in a more natural manner, breaking the flow of a scene and overall just making the chapter itself feel more messy and disorganized. The only reason I even did it here is because most people who read fanfic of a particular story already know the lore, and I'm pretty sure most of you are RWBY fans yourselves, but at the same time there are those out there who might not know the series very well and decided to read this for one reason or another. The show itself also had entire mini-episodes based around explaining some aspects of the world for lore junkies like myself, and while I'm grateful, it's not something that flows well in written format unless a chapter is specifically dedicated to it. **

**Instead, I prefer to let the explanations be revealed gradually to the reader through in-story dialogue between the characters, making it fit in with the story and not break the "immersion" so to speak. The reason this kind of chapter is even needed in the story is because Remnant is so much different from Earth that all these terms are common knowledge. For instance, Dust is more-or-less their version of electricity, among other things, so you'll never hear a character sit down and ask "What's Dust?" to another, and any attempts to do so would be out of place and artificial. The show had the introductory animation and the season 2 mini-episode to explain what Dust was, but for the sake of this story, I wanted to get this out of the way early on so I didn't have readers wandering off to Wikipedia to search up a topic half way through a fight sequence where I used the term, and it would have been awkward constantly calling it "The crystals" or "Strange energy" to keep with the flow. Of course, I rather like how I delivered these explanations and, in a way, I feel it might have added something in the narration of the story and dramatically setting up for Torchwick's appearance. I think it feels flush with the flow of the story.**

**That said, don't expect too many of these, as I plan on explaining everything through natural dialogue, which means you may not know a few things about this alternate universe world of Remnant, but I feel it's actually better that way. It adds to the "Aha!" moment you get upon figuring something out for yourself and as I said before, it gives a feel of immersion in this world. I know most of you probably don't care about this little issue, but I felt I should at least bring it up, if only to make myself feel better.**

**Alright, my little rant's over. Now, let's play a game!**

**No, not **_**that**_** type of game… I have another fic for that. *cue evil grin***

**I am challenging you, the readers, to guess what characters I based the OC's in this chapter off of. Here are a few hints; **

**Both of them have two inspirations each. **

**One of them has a Japanese origin while the others are European/British.  
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**None of the characters were created in contemporary times.  
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**One or two might be a little obscure.**

**If enough of you can guess one or more of the character inspirations by next chapter, I will reveal them in an Author's Note either at the beginning or the end. **

**In the meantime, I'll be working on another story and will release the prologue and first chapter before I even think of updating this one. The frequency of updates for each story will fluctuate with the popularity of the fiction, so if you like it let me know and you might inspire me to increase the amount of material I put out. **

**Well, that's all I have to say for now! Until next time!**


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